National Security

The Importance of Skills-Based Hiring

Publication:

Catalyte

Date:

October 31, 2017

I was recently privileged to become a founding member of the Rework America Task Force. Part of the Markle Foundation, this group seeks to transform our labor market from one solely focused on traditional credentials like degrees and work history, to one rooted in the skills needed for the jobs of the 21st century.

As we continue to progress into a post-industrial economy, we must transform how we discover talent. Using big data and/or artificial intelligence to create a skills-based hiring model will give all Americans equal opportunity for employment in the types of digital jobs that will power our economy.

Skills-based hiring is in opposition to the resume-based hiring model that we’ve used for the past 100+ years. As we’ve come to discover, resumes have no statistically relevant correlation to job outcomes or success. In fact, research shows that using resumes as the basis for hiring decisions actually increases implicit bias and disadvantages those without traditional markers of societal success (education, previous job experience, wealth, social networks).